Geographic Variations in Mortality from Motor Vehicle Crashes

Abstract

Using a new technique to study the mortality associated with motor vehicle crashes, we calculated population-based death rates of occupants of motor vehicles during the period 1979 through 1981 and mapped them according to county for the 48 contiguous states of the United States. Mortality was highest in counties of low population density (r = 0.57; P less than 0.0001) and was also inversely correlated with per capita income (r = 0.23; P less than 0.0001). Death rates varied more than 100-fold; for example, Esmeralda County, Nevada, with 0.2 residents per square mile (2.6 km2), had a death rate of 558 per 100,000 population, as compared with Manhattan, New York, with 64,000 residents per square mile and a death rate of 2.5 per 100,000. Differences in road characteristics, travel speeds, seat-belt use, types of vehicles, and availability of emergency care may have been major contributors to these relations.

Rural risk: Geographic disparities in trauma mortality

“…5 Our findings are consistent with prior studies indicating that rural residents are more likely to die from injury that non-rural residents. 19,40 While our findings are not consistent with the overall findings of Lipsky et al, we do find variation in mortality across trauma designation levels, with no disparity found at Level III and IV trauma centers, which may support a similar conclusion that well organized EMS systems reduce mortality in populations with limited trauma center access. 18 These findings suggest a significant disparity in outcomes following traumatic injury, with rural populations experiencing worse outcomes than non-rural populations.…”

Safety behavior among Iowa junior high and high school students.

“…Nationwide, the specific type of weapon used is not recorded on death certificates in two thirds offirearm suicides.1 The three studies that have examined the choice of weapons in firearm suicides focused on urban counties. [2][3][4] We report on the types of firearms used in firearm suicides in a rural state, Iowa, from 1980 through 1991. In addition, we test the hypothesis that the observed frequency of use of handguns, rifles, and shotguns in firearm suicides reflects the availability of each of these weapons.…”

Aspects macrogéographiques des accidents de la route : essai de comparaison Québec-Belgique

“…En effet, il a trouvé que des mesures de densité de circulation urbaine et rurale (ratio véhicules/longueur de route) avaient respectivement un effet direct et inverse sur les taux de mortalité routière. Par ailleurs, dans une étude des variations géographiques de la mortalité par accident de la route aux États-Unis, des taux de mortalité plus élevés caractérisaient les comtés ayant une faible densité de population (Baker et al, 1987).…”

“…Malgré une littérature abondante, l'aspect spatial, c'est-à-dire l'analyse de la répartition des accidents dans un espace défini, n'est abordé que depuis peu. Les travaux de pionniers tels Moellering (1973) aux États-Unis et Pampalon au Québec (1982) ont été suivis par ceux de Whitelegg (1987) en Angleterre, Baker et al (1987) et Black (1991) aux États-Unis, Thomas (1988) en Belgique, et de Pouliot et al (1986), Thouez et al (1990), Vandersmissen et al (1993) au Québec, pour n'en citer que quelques-uns. Toutefois, ces différents travaux ne portaient que sur un pays ou une région.…”